The MCU is at an interesting place, which will be very different in the next 10 years when we start saying the same thing and so on. Until that day finally arrives, it’s interesting to look at where the MCU started and where it’s at now. Before Avengers: Endgame, the MCU was bending itself with new territories with films such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Ant-Man and even the first Doctor Strange. They managed to open the doors for brand new characters to emerge and explore different parts of the world just to show how big this universe was. There’s an argument to be made that in the early stages of the MCU, they were clearly building towards something but it was a lot more experimental with their stand alone flicks than one might give it credit for. Fast forward to 2019 and we reached the end with Avengers: Endgame were it ultimately felt like the finale of this franchise and even the universe as a whole, despite having characters being recently introduced to us in previous films. We got to a point where the MCU felt almost larger than life that it was branching the door way to more supernatural and more fantastical stories and characters. As much as some were clamoring for a Black Widow movie, for it to the beginning of Phase Four was anticlimactic. But at least with this current phase, we’ve gotten things like Shang-Chi, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home and even with certain shows in Wandavision, Loki and the recent Moon Knight. It’s a mixture of old and a little bit of new.
One character that we first fell in love with in his own standalone origin story that got progressively better with his appearance in both Avengers: Infinity Way and Avengers: Endgame is Doctor Strange. A sequel to the first Doctor Strange was already in the works when original director Scott Derrickson was set to make at as the MCU’s first horror movie, but because of creative differences, Derrickson dropped out. But it was when Sam Raimi came in as a replacement, making this his first feature film since 2013 with Oz the Great and Powerful. Obviously, things took a turn for the worst when the film industry was halted by the pandemic so the entire MCU had to shift around its release calendar.
We can now look at that in the rear view mirror because Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness finally made its way into theaters this weekend and when we were promised a horror movie, we sure did get one. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness s a haunting, epic, dark and beautiful fantasy that truly embodies the MCU’s first horror movie. Each MCU movie typically elevates it’s franchise material will still staying interconnected the overall stakes other story aspects. Multiverse of Madness is, at heart, Sam Raimi being Sam Raimi. Raimi infuses some genuinely terrifying and effective moments of terror with its incredible visual style and special effects. I’m sure Scott Derrickson would have done a marvelous job, but Raimi’s style seemed to be a better fit for this Marvel project.
After the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Stephen Strange casted a spell that not only made the entire world forget that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, but a spell that opened the doors to the multiverse, that includes different versions of himself that causes a threat to the entire world and especially for the characters Wong, Strange himself and Wanda Maximoff.
When we came out of Guardians of the Galaxy, we all unified together and said “That’s a James Gunn film right there.” When we saw Thor: Ragnarok, we all agreed that “Taika Waititi had has thumb print all over that movie.” Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trumps all of those combined in the most beautiful way possible. Sam Raimi has certainly made some great and revolutionary superhero movies with his first two Spider-Man movies, but it’s the horror that Raimi is more famously known for. Instead of making a comic-book movie that felt in more in the veins of Spider-Man or Spider-Man 2, Raimi made an MCU movie that had a correlation with Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness or even Drag Me To Hell. This is first MCU where it feels like Kevin Feige let the director soar with his/her vision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is truly a Sam Raimi movie. Sam Raimi has created an epic, ghoulish and brutal MCU movie that continues to evolve the DNA of this franchise. The camera work, visual effects and grand set pieces embody so much about Sam Raimi’s style. From a cinematography perspective, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness features colors and lighting of a classic horror movie, giving it more of authentic feel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has a lot more character centric and emotional moments than expected, especially when you consider the amount of multiverse weight it’s carrying for the entire length of the movie. Benedict Cumberbatch shines in this role, once again. He gives the character much more emotional power and charm than ever before both in his previous solo movie and the latest Avengers movies. We know almost any character can be played by any great actor, but it’s safe to say that Cumberbatch was born to play Stephen Strange. Benedict Wong as Wong was great to see and is becoming more effective and one of the more likable MCU supporting characters. Newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez was a terrific counter part for Doctor Strange, almost in the vein of his dynamic with Peter Parker in No Way Home.
With all that said, he real star of this movie is Elizabeth Olsen. The way Thanos was the scene stealer in Infinity War, Wanda is that for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This has been one of the most fascinating characters studies not just in the realm of the MCU but of recent blockbuster memory. Even with Wanda being an established character that we first were introduced to in Avengers: Age of Ultron (if you don’t include that post credits scene at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier), we have witnessed a phenomenal and tragic character arc through and through. This is without question the best she’s ever been at the character and even with the entirety of her career. The sense of tragedy, brokenness and anger is so effectively transferred from her arc on Wandavision and is seen in an elevated fashion with this latest MCU extravaganza. This is a jaw dropping performance, maybe the best the MCU has ever seen.
The action and scope of this movie is truly a work of art. It’s almost impossible to describe how amazing Sam Raimi constructed these action sequences. It’s not going to be in the norm from what causal MCU goers might expect but to see more wizard action infused with witchcraft and zombies is something special.
The only real and major criticism that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has is really diving into spoiler territory. Without saying much and being as vague as possible, the cameos that we see in this movie are absolutely meaningless. Fans who have spent on speculated will certainly light up when we see these cameos, but narratively they served no purpose. It was just fan service for the sake of fan service.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the type of MCU movie where it almost acts like Iron Man 3 did. It’s subverting the expectations and any kind of familiarity the MCU has by surprising the audiences with a different style and a unique fashion. Sam Raimi promised us a horror movie and his trademarks are all over this movie and what better way to have him team up with composer with Danny Elfman again whose music is chilling, evocative and epically powerful. The style is terrific, the performances are great, there’s heart pounding horror and spectacular action.Let’s get more directors on more MCU projects and let’s have them go nuts with their style.
My grade for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: A-
Zane's take at the Cinema's 